System And Method For Performing Financial Transactions Using A Wireless Personal Assistant

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the present disclosure involve systems, methods, devices, and the like for performing financial transactions. In one embodiment, a system is introduced that enables a communication between a user and a wireless personal assistant. The communication occurs through the use of a vocal command which is recognized and authenticated by the wireless personal assistant for the request and transfer of a monetary amount between a user and a contact. The communication occurs using a financial institution associated with the user and linked with the wireless personal assistant for the manipulation of funds from the user account.

RELATED MATTERS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/274,854, filed on Feb. 13, 2019, and entitled“System And Method For Performing Financial Transactions Using AWireless Personal Assistant,” issued on Jan. 24, 2023 as U.S. Pat. No.11,562,359, which claims priority benefit from U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/630,234, titled “System and Method for PerformingFinancial Transactions Using a Wireless Personal Assistant” filed Feb.13, 2018, the disclosures of each which have been hereby incorporated byreference in their respective entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to wireless personal assistantsystems, and more specifically, to performing financial transactionsusing a wireless personal assistant system.

BACKGROUND

Rapid advancements in technology and communications have led to theubiquitous use of wireless electronics. As such, today's society hasgrown to become heavily device reliant. This reliance has led to the useof electronics to make monetary transactions for goods and services. Forexample, a smartphone may now be used to complete a transaction ortransfer a monetary amount with a financial institution. However, suchmonetary transfer often requires the user to be fully engaged and inputinformation to the smartphone, limiting a user's time and ability tomultitask. Therefore, it would be beneficial if a system where createdthat provides a user with the ability to transfer funds and makepayments without the need for user input.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIGS. 1A-1C illustrates block diagrams of a first user interaction withone or more devices for performing a transaction.

FIGS. 2A-2B illustrates a communication with a user device for linking awireless personal assistant system.

FIG. 3A-3D illustrates other communications with a user device foraccount setup and use with the wireless personal assistant system.

FIG. 4A-4B illustrates yet other communications with a user devicedemonstrating a completion of financial transaction using the wirelesspersonal assistant system.

FIG. 5 illustrates a timing diagram of communication between thewireless personal assistant system and a service provider for useronboarding.

FIG. 6 illustrates a timing diagram of communication between thewireless personal assistant system and a service provider for performinga monetary transfer using a valid personal identification number.

FIG. 7 illustrates a timing diagram of communication between thewireless personal assistant system and a service provider for performinga monetary transfer using an invalid personal identification number.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for performing atransaction using a wireless personal assistant system.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of a system for performing atransaction using a wireless personal assistant system.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example block diagram of a computer systemsuitable for implementing one or more devices of the communicationsystems of FIGS. 1-9 .

Embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages are bestunderstood by referring to the detailed description that follows. Itshould be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identifylike elements illustrated in one or more of the figures, whereasshowings therein are for purposes of illustrating embodiments of thepresent disclosure and not for purposes of limiting the same.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, specific details are set forth describingsome embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. It will beapparent, however, to one skilled in the art that some embodiments maybe practiced without some or all of these specific details. The specificembodiments disclosed herein are meant to be illustrative but notlimiting. One skilled in the art may realize other elements that,although not specifically described here, are within the scope and thespirit of this disclosure. In addition, to avoid unnecessary repetition,one or more features shown and described in association with oneembodiment may be incorporated into other embodiments unlessspecifically described otherwise or if the one or more features wouldmake an embodiment non-functional.

Aspects of the present disclosure involve systems, methods, devices, andthe like for performing financial transactions. In one embodiment, asystem is introduced that enables a communication between a user and awireless personal assistant. The communication occurs through the use ofa vocal command which is recognized and authenticated by the wirelesspersonal assistant for the request and transfer of a monetary amountbetween a user and a contact. The communication occurs using a financialinstitution associated with the user and linked with the wirelesspersonal assistant for the manipulation of funds from the user account.

Rapid advances in communications have made portable electronic devices,such as smartphones and tablets, part of everyday life. Among otherthings, these electronic devices can be used to browse the web andstream video, and purchase goods and services. In some instances, one ormore electronic devices can be used to make a transfer of a monetaryamount between accounts and/or users. However, in some instances thesmartphone or device may not be readily available and/or the user istied up and unable to input the information necessary to make thetransaction.

Conventionally, the transfer of cash has occurred at an automated tellermachine (ATM) using a physical bank card. Most recently, the capabilityis supported using an application associated with a bank institutionand/or a third party service provider using a user device or computer.Transacting in this manner, however, may be cumbersome, time consuming,and limiting to the user. Additionally, this manner of transactingrequires either travel to the automated teller machine or the use andpresence of a mobile device.

To illustrate this, FIGS. 1A-1C, include block diagrams of a userinteraction with one or more devices for performing a transaction. InFIG. 1A, a user 108 is interacting with an automated teller machine(ATM) 102 for performing one or more transactions. The ATM 102 can beused to access funds and perform transactions using an institutionalcard and/or in conjunction with a personal device such as a smartphone,tablet, laptop, pc, or the like. However, as illustrated in FIG. 1A,transacting with an ATM 102 requires a user 108 to physically travel tothe location of the ATM 102 which can be time consuming andinconvenient. Alternatively, the user 108 may be interested intransacting with another user who may not share a joint account or evenan account at the financial institution associated with the user 108and/or the ATM 102, limited the transaction type available to the user108.

FIG. 1B illustrates user 108 interacting with a user device 104 forperforming one or more transactions. The user device 104 may be atablet, iPad, cell phone or the like. For exemplary purposes, userdevice 104 can be a smart phone. The smart phone may be equipped withvarious applications for performing similar tasks as indicated withpersonal device 102. For example, the user device 104 may be used forweb browsing, video streaming, bill payments, and online purchases.Additionally, the user device 104 be equipped with applications thatenable the user to make purchases and transfers using a payment providerapplication and/or a digital wallet. Further, the user device 104 iscapable of making phone calls and communicating with one or more othercommunications devices using a cellular network, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, BLE,NFC, WLAN, etc. The communication can enable the transmission ofinformation from a user account to a secondary source. For example, theuser device 104 can be used to make a purchase for a good or serviceusing an application or digital wallet. Here, although the user device104 is portable and accessible for purchases, the conventional smartphone is limited by the ability to interact with the user oftenrequiring the need for user input to make a transaction. Therefore, inorder to mitigate the inconvenience associated with ATM machines 102 anduser devices 104 a method and system is introduced that alleviates suchdisadvantages.

FIG. 1C illustrates a user 108 interacting with a personal assistant 106for performing a transaction. In a current embodiment, a system andmethod is introduced that enables financial transactions without theneed for ATM 102 or user device 104 input. In particular, a system isintroduced that enables the communication with a wireless personalassistant 106 for transacting, including but not limited to the transferand request of a monetary amount from an individual.

In one embodiment, a transfer of a monetary amount is performed using awireless personal assistant 106. For example, a user 108 may communicatea vocal command to the wireless personal assistant 106 to perform atransfer of “$10 to John.” The wireless personal assistant 106 may thencommunicate with a service provider or other financial institutiondesignated by the user 108 to access the user's account and make thetransfer. The transfer of the monetary amount and recognition of theuser 108 performing the request may come in response to a linking andother authentication setup that can occur on an application of the userdevice 104. The account setup, wireless personal assistant 106recognition, and authentication can occur via a wireless communicationlinking, token exchange, PIN identification, and other process which hasbeen put in place. In some embodiments, once the user authentication hasbeen established, the wireless personal assistant 106 can be used foractions including but not limited to transferring funds, requestingfunds, updating contact lists and profiles, and the like. To communicatewith the wireless personal assistant, near field communications,cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth and/or other communication network may be usedsingly or in combination with the wireless personal assistant and/orother smart device.

FIGS. 2-4 provide exemplary embodiments illustrating a communicationover a user device 104 enabling the performance of a financialtransaction using a wireless personal assistant 106. Note that FIGS. 2-4are for exemplary purposes only and other methods, flows, and userinterfaces may be contemplated. In addition, although the process isillustrated as beginning at the user device 104, the process ofbeginning the transaction may occur at a desktop, computer, tablet, orother smart device capable of communicating with the wireless personalassistant 106.

FIGS. 2A-2B illustrate the communication 200 over a user device 104 forthe setup of a user account and the linking of the wireless personalassistant with the user device 106 and/or financial institution for usein the financial transactions performed by the wireless personalassistant. For exemplary purposes, a PayPal application will be used forillustrating various user interfaces 202 that may appear on a userdevice 104 as a user 108 is in the process of setting up andestablishing communication with the wireless personal assistant 106.

In some embodiments, the communication 200 is initiated by a user 108when opening the PayPal application and is presented with a homepagethat enables you to link to a wireless personal assistant 106. In someinstances, the user may select the option presented with a promptindicating the opportunity to link to an external device such as thewireless personal assistant 106. In some embodiments, upon responding,the user may be presented with a linking UI 202 a on a user device 104,which provides the option to link your financial account with thewireless personal assistant 106. In other embodiments, the user may beprompted to visit a specific website associated with the wirelesspersonal assistant for linking the account.

As illustrated on the linking UI 202 a, exemplary financial transactionspossible using the wireless personal assistant 106 are illustrated. Thelinking illustrated at FIG. 2A is presented on a laptop computer ordevice 104. Additionally or alternatively, the linking may occur onanother device 104 such as for example a smart phone. Illustrated atFIG. 2B is another linking UI202 b, that may be presented on a smartphone. The linking UI202 a,b can include a selection of one or morecommands which may be recognized when requesting, transferring, orvocalizing a request for a balance from the personal assistant 106. Forexample, a balance on an account may be obtained. Such balance may beretrieved using numerous vocal commands including, but not limited toprompting the wireless personal assistant, “What is my balance”, “Showme my balance,” “Check my balance”, etc. Similarly, vocal commands maybe used to send money and/or request money using the now linked account.For example, such vocal commands can include, “Transfer $ to X”,“Request $ from Y,” etc. Note that the commands and options illustratedin FIGS. 2A-2B are for exemplary purposes and other options and commandsare possible. Additionally, note that the device used for linking thefinancial account with the wireless personal assistant is not limited tothe use of a user device 104, but can include a laptop, desktop, iPad,smartphone, etc.

Once the user 108 has arrived at the linking UI202 a,b, the user 108 maybe presented with a series of options including the ability to modifyand personalize system settings for use in the communication with thewireless personal assistant 106. For exemplary purposes, FIGS. 3A-3D arepresented to illustrate possible UIs 302 a-d.

FIG. 3A begins with a settings UI 302 a enable to allow the user 108 toupdate, import, and manage the account settings associated with thewireless personal assistant 106. For example, from settings UI 302 a,the user 108 is able to select the option to be routed to site or UI forthe update of a PIN for use in transacting and authenticating. Asanother example, from the settings UI 302 a, the user can select theoption to be routed for choosing the one or more financial instrumentsto use for transacting using the wireless personal assistant 106. Otherexamples include the ability to update and manage contacts, financialinstitutions, and cards.

As illustrated in FIG. 3B, the option to manage the financialinstitution (FI) option has been selected. Therefore, FI UI 302 b isillustrated providing various payment methods available on the user'sdigital wallet for payment. From these payment methods, FI UI 302 benables the selection of a preferred method of payment. That is to say,the user 108 can select which account to use as the primary source ofincome for making the financial transactions using the wireless personalassistant 106. The user 108 may therefore select a payment provideraccount, one or more bank accounts, credit cards, lines of credit, agift card, award points or credit, merchant card, etc.

Illustrated in FIG. 3C, is contacts UI 302 c for managing user contactsfor transacting with the wireless personal assistant. This contacts UI302 c can appear in response to the selection from the settings UI302 ato manage contacts. As illustrated in contacts UI 302, the ability toimport contacts is presented, where a user 108 can select one or moresocial media sites from which to import contact information. Forexample, the contacts may be imported from your email, word document,Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, Outlook, Microsoft, Yahoo, School directory,list serve, phone contacts, etc. Additionally or alternatively, thecontact information can be retrieved from the contacts list located inthe local and/or remote user device 104 or application. Still further,at FIG. 3D, add contacts UI 302D presents the ability for a user to addand/or remove contacts that will be available for transacting with usingthe wireless personal assistant 106.

Note that FIGS. 3A-3D illustrate exemplary UIs 302 a-d available formanaging user settings in conjunction with the use of the wirelesspersonal assistant 106. However, the settings, setup, and optionspresented are no limiting and other settings and methods may becontemplated.

Once the user's desired settings are in place, a user may performfinancial transactions using the wireless personal assistant 106. Theuser 108, may therefore provide a vocal request to the wireless personalassistant 106 for performing a financial transaction without the needfor a user input. As an example, FIGS. 4A-4B are presented illustratinga confirmation message that may appear on a screen of the wirelessdigital assistant 106 and/or user device 104. In particular, FIG. 4Apresents a confirmation message that may be received via sent UI 402 awhere an image of the recipient is presented along with the desiredfinancial instrument used and monetary amount of the transaction. FIG.4B presents a confirmation message that may be received at user deviceand/or wireless personal assistant 106 via receive UI 402 b. The receiveUI 402 b can also include an image of the individual from whom themonetary amount request will be made, the amount, and information on theservice provider used (e.g., PayPal) or other financial instrument. Notethat additional information may be included and/or removed including butnot limited to account number, balance, etc. Additionally, note that therequest and/or payment may not be limited to one recipient and insteadmultiple recipients may be used in the transaction. For example, fundingmay be requested from numerous users who may have share a meal. Asanother example, a payment may be made to multiple users to whom amonetary amount is owed. Therefore, the vocal command and monetarytransaction may be in relation to a money request or transfer withregards to a bill split, donation, gift, contribution, bill pay, or thelike.

Turning next to FIG. 5 , a timing diagram 500 is presented whichillustrates the communication between the wireless personal assistantsystem 106 and a service provider for user onboarding. The timingdiagram 500 is design to illustrate the onboarding process that mayoccur between the wireless personal assistant and a service provider orother financial application for a user 108 that currently has anexisting PIN, wants to update the PIN, and/or needs to add a PIN. Asillustrate in FIG. 5 , in timing diagram 500, communication occursbetween the assistant application and services 502 and at least anidentity entity 504, a user 108 via a user device 104, and a Risk entity508.

Timing diagram 500 begins with a communication between the assistantapplication and data services 502 and the identity entity 504. Thecommunication can include the linking that can occur between anapplication on the wireless personal assistant and generally the user108 through a user device 104 and/or the user account (serviceprovider). In some instances, the linking can occur through use of auniform resource identifier (URI) 512 that can use used to enable theinteraction between the resources (e.g., wireless personal assistant106) over a network. Further to the exchange of the URI, a user accountinformation can be considered to determine if a personal identificationnumber (PIN) 514 is available for communication, transmitted from thewireless personal assistant 106, for verification by identity 504. ThePIN may be transmitted to identity 504 and to the user/user device 104,where a determination 516 can be made regarding the existence of suchPIN in the system. In other words, the system can check to see if a PINhas already been entered or if a new PIN is necessary 518. The PIN 520(which may be entered or vocalized) may then received and evaluated forrisk and identity/authentication 524. If the PIN matches an existing PINthen a risk entity 508 which can be associated with the paymentprovider, can respond with a success 524. If however, the PIN receivedis not found and corresponds to a new PIN being added, then the systemwill store 528 as new PIN. Alternatively, if the PIN received is anupdated PIN, then the system will similarly store 528 as the new PIN.Then, in response to the storage of the new PIN, the system, via theuser device 506 may respond with a success prompt 530 and maysubsequently prompt via the assistant application, the saving of the IPaddress 532 associated with the user device 506. Once IP prompt isaddresses, the notification may be sent back to identity 534,authentication may be completed 536 (via the transmission of anauthentication code), and onboarding 538 finalized. Thus, FIG. 5generally presents the onboarding of the wireless personal assistant 106to enable the send/request of a monetary account. During onboarding, theuser 108 will link to a financial institution (e.g., PayPal account),obtain consent, and establish a PIN for use. Therefore, if a user 108wants to send funds to a contact, the user will provide the PIN via aspoken request to the wireless personal assistant 106. The PIN may bereused for future integrations and other additional transactions whichcan occur using the wireless personal assistant 106. Note that timingdiagram includes generalized steps that may be used for onboardinghowever, more or less steps, entities, etc. may be included.

Turning now to FIGS. 6-7 , other timing diagrams 600,700 are included todescribe a send/request money flow and token upgrade flow for suchrequests. In particular, FIGS. 6-7 illustrate a send money flow with avalid and invalid PIN respectively. At FIGS. 6 and 7 , the timingdiagram begins with a user communication with the wireless personalassistant 106 via the application and data services. The communicationconsists of series of checks and verifications with an identity entityto ensure the communication between the wireless personal assistant 106and a payment provider system or other financial institution can occurto enable the transfer of funds in this case. Such communication isillustrated in FIG. 6 with the send money flow 600, beginning with arequest to send money 602 to the receipt and verification of PIN 612from the user at a user device 104. From the request for a monetarytransfer, application and data services may receive and request theverification of the device making the request 604. The verification caninclude the verification of a signature certificate, a device ID,security content, etc. In response, a request for a PIN may be sent 606and received 608 and used for verification and correlation against a PINrequested and received from the user at user device 612. Theverification and correlation can include a communication betweenidentity, and the application and data services for correct token,certification, and authentication. Thus, once signatures, devices, andother security content is verified, the PIN may be vocalized andvalidated at FIG. 6 by 612. A valid PIN will include obtaining ahash-based message authentication code (hmac) from the user.Verification of the hmac pin will then enable the access of the contactbook 614 (contacts API with the person) and send request 616. If thecontact is found, the request is sent and a notification of a successfultransfer is received at both the application and data services 620 andat the consumer device 622, where the request was made. If the contactis found on the contact list, then the recipient contact information andfunding instrument information may be communicated for the completion ofthe transaction and payment. Alternatively, if the contact does notexist, the user may be asked to vocalize the recipient's name againand/or asked to import the contact information to the payment providerapplication. Additionally, if a funding request comes from anapplication where the contact exists which is not a user of the paymentprovider, then the information may be pulled or imported from a socialapplication, user email account, or the like. Once the contactinformation is identified, the communication continues to the completionof the transaction and payment.

Turning next to FIG. 7 , the send money flow 700 with an invalid PIN isillustrated. FIG. 7 timing diagram begins much like FIG. 6 send moneyflow 600 with the send money request 702 through verification of PIN 712from the user at a user device 104. From the request for a monetarytransfer, application and data services may receive and request theverification of the device making the request 704. The verification caninclude the verification of a signature certificate, a device ID,security content, etc. In response, a request for a PIN may be sent 706and received 708 and used for verification and correlation against a PINrequested and received from the user at user device 712. Theverification and correlation can include a communication betweenidentity, and the application and data services for correct token,certification, and authentication. Thus, once signatures, devices, andother security content is verified, the PIN may be vocalized andvalidated at FIG. 7 by 712. If an invalid hmac pin 714 is retrieved, themoney transfer request may not occur, be cancelled, and transactionfailed. In some instances, the hmac pin is stored for a predeterminedtime and thus the script may be run periodically which deletes suchhashed PIN. In particular once the PIN is received, a user is providedwith a predetermined number of attempts/failed attempts, access to thecontact book will not occur and a request will failure will becommunicated.

Note that in addition to the timing diagrams discussed above and inconjunction with FIGS. 6 and 7 , other communications may occur betweenthe wireless personal assistant system, a service provider and/or a userdevice. For example, a communication may occur when a token upgrade isneeded. Such upgrade may include a communication with identity,cryptography, and other similar modules, components, devices, orsystems. In one embodiment, the token authentication can begin with theauthentication of user context data and metadata which is authenticatedbetween a security token service and 2-factor authentication entity. Thesecurity content may be checked against an hmac PIN and verification ofit as the token may be upgraded. The process can include thecommunication of such pin and details with the cryptography servicesentities and concludes with full authentication at the application.Similarly other communications can also exist for onboarding, changing,or updating financial instruments, contacts, PIN, etc. Also, note thatthe timing diagram(s) is for illustrative purposes and other processes,communications, and entities may be contemplated.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example process for completing a financialtransaction using a wireless digital assistant. In particular, FIG. 8includes a flow diagram illustrating operation for initiating andperforming a financial transaction with the wireless digital assistant.According to some embodiments, process 800 may include one or more ofoperations 802-824, which may be implemented, at least in part, in theform of executable code stored on a non-transitory, tangible, machinereadable media that, when run on one or more hardware processors, maycause a system to perform one or more of the operations 802-824.

Process 800 begins with operation 802, where a wireless personalassistant option is selected on an application of a user device. Asindicated above and in conjunction with FIGS. 2-4 , the wirelesspersonal assistant option is available from the user device 104.Alternatively, the wireless personal assistant option may be availableon a display of the wireless personal assistant 106. For example, thelinking to the wireless personal assistant 106 option may be initiatedwhen the user 108 is at the homepage of the application, afterpurchasing/connecting a wireless personal assistant system 106. Toperform a financial transaction, the wireless personal assistant 106should be linked to an account and onboarded. Operations 804-812illustrate the setup process wherein a user 108 is selecting a primaryfunding instrument to use for the financial transactions performed withthe wireless personal assistant 106. Operation 806 includes theselection of contact to include for use with the wireless personalassistant 106. For example, the contacts can be a close friend whofrequently has lunch with you and with whom monetary funds may beexchanged. Alternatively, the contacts can be relatives, co-workers, oreven acquaintances that may be involved in a fundraiser, collection, ordonation. In some instances, the contacts may be located in the userdevice 104, however in other instances, the contacts may be importedfrom other locations. At operation 808, a decision is made as to whetherthe contacts to be used in connection with the wireless personalassistant need to be imported. If the contacts need to be imported, thenprocess 800 continues to operation 810, where contacts are retrievedfrom a social media, email, or other user account. If however, noadditional contacts are necessary, then process 800 continues tooperation 812 where the user account associated with the paymentprovider or other financial institution for use in transacting is linkedto the personal wireless assistant.

Upon linking the account and consenting to transacting using thewireless personal assistant system, financial transactions can beperformed. At operation 814, a request is received to perform afinancial transaction from the wireless personal assistant. In oneembodiment, the transaction request can come in the form of a vocalcommand from the user to the user to the wireless personal assistant.The user command can include a request to one or more contacts for thetransfer, request, etc. of a monetary amount. The request then getsprocessed and authenticated at operation 818. If user authenticationfails at operation 818, the request is cancelled at operation 820 andthe user is returned home, to a reset state, idle state or the likewhich limits the interaction with a user account until verificationoccurs. Alternatively, if the user is authentication, process 800continues to operation 822 where the transaction is processed beforereturning to a home state at operation 824. Note that in some instances,process 800 may include more or less operations and FIG. 8 is providedfor exemplary purposes.

FIG. 9 illustrates, in block diagram format, an example embodiment of acomputing environment adapted for implementing a system for queuereduction. As shown, a computing environment 900 may comprise orimplement a plurality of servers and/or software components that operateto perform various methodologies in accordance with the describedembodiments. Severs may include, for example, stand-alone andenterprise-class servers operating a server operating system (OS) suchas a MICROSOFT® OS, a UNIX® OS, a LINUX® OS, or other suitableserver-based OS. It may be appreciated that the servers illustrated inFIG. 9 may be deployed in other ways and that the operations performedand/or the services provided by such servers may be combined,distributed, and/or separated for a given implementation and may beperformed by a greater number or fewer number of servers. One or moreservers may be operated and/or maintained by the same or differententities.

Computing environment 900 may include, among various devices, servers,databases and other elements, one or more clients 902 that may compriseor employ one or more client devices 904, such as a laptop, a mobilecomputing device, a tablet, a PC, a wearable device, and/or any othercomputing device having computing and/or communications capabilities inaccordance with the described embodiments. Client devices 904 mayinclude a cellular telephone, smart phone, electronic wearable device(e.g., smart watch, virtual reality headset), wireless digitalassistant, or other similar devices that a user may carry on or abouthis or her person and/or device the user can access readily.

Client devices 904 generally may provide one or more client programs906, such as system programs and application programs to perform variouscomputing and/or communications operations. Some example system programsmay include, without limitation, an operating system (e.g., MICROSOFT®OS, UNIX® OS, LINUX® OS, Symbian OS™, Embedix OS, Binary Run-timeEnvironment for Wireless (BREW) OS, JavaOS, a Wireless ApplicationProtocol (WAP) OS, and others), device drivers, programming tools,utility programs, software libraries, application programming interfaces(APIs), and so forth. Some example application programs may include,without limitation, a web browser application, messaging applications(e.g., e-mail, IM, SMS, MIMS, telephone, voicemail, VoIP, videomessaging, interne relay chat (IRC)), contacts application, calendarapplication, electronic document application, database application,media application (e.g., music, video, television), location-basedservices (LBS) applications (e.g., GPS, mapping, directions, positioningsystems, geolocation, point-of-interest, locator) that may utilizehardware components such as an antenna, and so forth. One or more ofclient programs 906 may display various graphical user interfaces (GUIs)to present information to and/or receive information from one or moreusers of client devices 1004. In some embodiments, client programs 906may include one or more applications configured to conduct some or allof the functionalities and/or processes discussed below.

Client device 904 (e.g., device 104) may also include a digitalassistant integration module 905, that can be used in network-basedsystem 910 to determine if a financial transaction has been requested,to communicate with one or more devices for access and authorization ofthe withdrawal and at least for enabling the transaction.

As shown, client devices 904 may be communicatively coupled via one ormore networks 908 to a network-based system 910. Network-based system910 may be structured, arranged, and/or configured to allow client 902to establish one or more communications sessions between network-basedsystem 910 and various computing devices 904 and/or client programs 906.Accordingly, a communications session between client devices 904 andnetwork-based system 910 may involve the unidirectional and/orbidirectional exchange of information and may occur over one or moretypes of networks 908 depending on the mode of communication. While theembodiment of FIG. 9 illustrates a computing environment 900 deployed ina client-server operating relationship, it is to be understood thatother suitable operating environments, relationships, and/orarchitectures may be used in accordance with the described embodiments.

Data communications between client devices 904 and the network-basedsystem 910 may be sent and received over one or more networks 1008 suchas the Internet, a WAN, a WWAN, a WLAN, a mobile telephone network, alandline telephone network, personal area network, as well as othersuitable networks. For example, client devices 904 may communicate withnetwork-based system 910 over the Internet or other suitable WAN bysending and or receiving information via interaction with a web site,e-mail, IM session, and/or video messaging session. Any of a widevariety of suitable communication types between client devices 904 andsystem 910 may take place, as will be readily appreciated. Inparticular, wireless communications of any suitable form may take placebetween client device 904 and system 910, such as that which oftenoccurs in the case of mobile phones or other personal and/or mobiledevices.

In various embodiments, computing environment 900 may include, amongother elements, a third party 912 (e.g., ATM, merchant POS systems,wireless personal assistant, etc.) which may comprise or employthird-party devices 914 hosting third-party applications 916. In variousimplementations, third-party devices 914 and/or third-party applications916 may host applications associated with or employed by a third party912. For example, third-party devices 914 and/or third-partyapplications 916 may enable network-based system 910 to provide client902 and/or system 910 with additional services and/or information, suchas merchant information, data communications, payment services, securityfunctions, customer support, and/or other services, some of which willbe discussed in greater detail below. Third-party devices 914 and/orthird-party applications 916 may also provide system 910 and/or client902 with other information and/or services, such as email servicesand/or information, property transfer and/or handling, purchase servicesand/or information, and/or other online services and/or information.

In one embodiment, third-party devices 914 may include one or moreservers, such as a transaction server that manages and archivestransactions. In some embodiments, the third-party devices may include apurchase database that can provide information regarding purchases ofdifferent items and/or products. In yet another embodiment, third-partysevers 914 may include one or more servers for aggregating consumerdata, tokens, authentication information, user profiles, and the like.

Network-based system 910 may comprise one or more communications servers920 to provide suitable interfaces that enable communication usingvarious modes of communication and/or via one or more networks 908.Communications servers 920 may include a web server 922, an API server924, and/or a messaging server 926 to provide interfaces to one or moreapplication servers 930. Application servers 930 of network-based system910 may be structured, arranged, and/or configured to provide variousonline services, merchant identification services, merchant informationservices, purchasing services, monetary transfers, money withdrawals,money deposits, checkout processing, data gathering, data analysis, andother services to users that access network-based system 910. In variousembodiments, client devices 904 and/or third-party devices 914 maycommunicate with application servers 930 of network-based system 910 viaone or more of a web interface provided by web server 922, aprogrammatic interface provided by API server 924, and/or a messaginginterface provided by messaging server 926. It may be appreciated thatweb server 922, API server 924, and messaging server 926 may bestructured, arranged, and/or configured to communicate with varioustypes of client devices 904, third-party devices 914, third-partyapplications 916, and/or client programs 906 and may interoperate witheach other in some implementations.

Web server 922 may be arranged to communicate with web clients and/orapplications such as a web browser, web browser toolbar, desktop widget,mobile widget, web-based application, web-based interpreter, virtualmachine, mobile applications, and so forth. API server 924 may bearranged to communicate with various client programs 906 and/or athird-party application 916 comprising an implementation of API fornetwork-based system 910. Messaging server 926 may be arranged tocommunicate with various messaging clients and/or applications such ase-mail, IM, SMS, MIMS, telephone, VoIP, video messaging, IRC, and soforth, and messaging server 926 may provide a messaging interface toenable access by client 902 and/or third party 912 to the variousservices and functions provided by application servers 930.

Application servers 930 of network-based system 910 may be a server thatprovides various services to clients including, but not limited to, dataanalysis, geofence management, order processing, checkout processing,monetary transfers, location services, and/or the like. Applicationserver 930 of network-based system 910 may provide services tothird-party merchants such as real time consumer metric visualizations,real time purchase information, and/or the like. Application servers 930may include an account server 932, device identification server 934,content server 936, transaction pairing and state management server 938,purchase, authentication analysis server 940, user identification server942, notification server 944, and/or content statistics server 946.These servers, which may be in addition to other servers, may bestructured and arranged to configure the system for monitoring queuesand identifying ways for reducing queue times.

Application servers 930, in turn, may be coupled to and capable ofaccessing one or more databases 950 including a profile database 952, anaccount database 954, transaction database 956, and/or the like.Databases 950 generally may store and maintain various types ofinformation for use by application servers 930 and may comprise or beimplemented by various types of computer storage devices (e.g., servers,memory) and/or database structures (e.g., relational, object-oriented,hierarchical, dimensional, network) in accordance with the describedembodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example computer system 1000 in block diagramformat suitable for implementing on one or more devices of the system inFIGS. 1-9 . In various implementations, a device that includes computersystem 1000 may comprise a personal computing device (e.g., a smart ormobile device, a computing tablet, a personal computer, laptop, wearabledevice, PDA, wireless personal assistant, etc.) that is capable ofcommunicating with a network 1026 (e.g., network 1008). A serviceprovider and/or a content provider may utilize a network computingdevice (e.g., a network server) capable of communicating with thenetwork. It should be appreciated that each of the devices utilized byusers, service providers, and content providers may be implemented ascomputer system 1000 in a manner as follows.

Additionally, as more and more devices become communication capable,such as new smart devices using wireless communication to report, track,message, relay information and so forth, these devices may be part ofcomputer system 1000. For example, windows, walls, and other objects maydouble as touch screen devices for users to interact with. Such devicesmay be incorporated with the systems discussed herein.

Computer system 1000 may include a bus 1010 or other communicationmechanisms for communicating information data, signals, and informationbetween various components of computer system 1000. Components includean input/output (I/O) component 1004 that processes a user action, suchas selecting keys from a keypad/keyboard, selecting one or more buttons,links, actuatable elements, etc., and sending a corresponding signal tobus 1010. I/O component 1004 may also include an output component, suchas a display 1002 and a cursor control 1008 (such as a keyboard, keypad,mouse, touchscreen, etc.). In some examples, I/O component 1004 otherdevices, such as another user device, a merchant server, an emailserver, application service provider, web server, a payment providerserver, an ATM server, third party server, and/or other servers via anetwork. In various embodiments, such as for many cellular telephone andother mobile device embodiments, this transmission may be wireless,although other transmission mediums and methods may also be suitable. Aprocessor 1018, which may be a micro-controller, digital signalprocessor (DSP), or other processing component, that processes thesevarious signals, such as for display on computer system 1000 ortransmission to other devices over a network 1026 via a communicationlink 1024. Again, communication link 1024 may be a wirelesscommunication in some embodiments. Processor 1018 may also controltransmission of information, such as cookies, IP addresses, images,and/or the like to other devices.

Components of computer system 1000 also include a system memorycomponent 1014 (e.g., RAM), a static storage component 1014 (e.g., ROM),and/or a disk drive 1016. Computer system 1000 performs specificoperations by processor 1018 and other components by executing one ormore sequences of instructions contained in system memory component 1012(e.g., for engagement level determination). Logic may be encoded in acomputer readable medium, which may refer to any medium thatparticipates in providing instructions to processor 1018 for execution.Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to,non-volatile media, volatile media, and/or transmission media. Invarious implementations, non-volatile media includes optical or magneticdisks, volatile media includes dynamic memory such as system memorycomponent 1012, and transmission media includes coaxial cables, copperwire, and fiber optics, including wires that comprise bus 1010. In oneembodiment, the logic is encoded in a non-transitory machine-readablemedium. In one example, transmission media may take the form of acousticor light waves, such as those generated during radio wave, optical, andinfrared data communications.

Some common forms of computer readable media include, for example, harddisk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, CD-ROM, any otheroptical medium, RAM, PROM, EPROM, FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip orcartridge, or any other medium from which a computer is adapted to read.

Components of computer system 1000 may also include a short rangecommunications interface 1020. Short range communications interface1020, in various embodiments, may include transceiver circuitry, anantenna, and/or waveguide. Short range communications interface 1020 mayuse one or more short-range wireless communication technologies,protocols, and/or standards (e.g., WiFi, Bluetooth®, Bluetooth LowEnergy (BLE), infrared, NFC, etc.).

Short range communications interface 1020, in various embodiments, maybe configured to detect other devices (e.g., device 104, ATM 102, etc.)with short range communications technology near computer system 1000.Short range communications interface 1020 may create a communicationarea for detecting other devices with short range communicationcapabilities. When other devices with short range communicationscapabilities are placed in the communication area of short rangecommunications interface 1020, short range communications interface 1020may detect the other devices and exchange data with the other devices.Short range communications interface 1020 may receive identifier datapackets from the other devices when in sufficiently close proximity. Theidentifier data packets may include one or more identifiers, which maybe operating system registry entries, cookies associated with anapplication, identifiers associated with hardware of the other device,and/or various other appropriate identifiers.

In some embodiments, short range communications interface 1020 mayidentify a local area network using a short range communicationsprotocol, such as WiFi, and join the local area network. In someexamples, computer system 1000 may discover and/or communicate withother devices that are a part of the local area network using shortrange communications interface 1020. In some embodiments, short rangecommunications interface 1020 may further exchange data and informationwith the other devices that are communicatively coupled with short rangecommunications interface 1020.

In various embodiments of the present disclosure, execution ofinstruction sequences to practice the present disclosure may beperformed by computer system 1000. In various other embodiments of thepresent disclosure, a plurality of computer systems 1000 coupled bycommunication link 1024 to the network (e.g., such as a LAN, WLAN, PTSN,and/or various other wired or wireless networks, includingtelecommunications, mobile, and cellular phone networks) may performinstruction sequences to practice the present disclosure in coordinationwith one another. Modules described herein may be embodied in one ormore computer readable media or be in communication with one or moreprocessors to execute or process the techniques and algorithms describedherein.

A computer system may transmit and receive messages, data, informationand instructions, including one or more programs (i.e., applicationcode) through a communication link 1024 and a communication interface.Received program code may be executed by a processor as received and/orstored in a disk drive component or some other non-volatile storagecomponent for execution.

Where applicable, various embodiments provided by the present disclosuremay be implemented using hardware, software, or combinations of hardwareand software. Also, where applicable, the various hardware componentsand/or software components set forth herein may be combined intocomposite components comprising software, hardware, and/or both withoutdeparting from the spirit of the present disclosure. Where applicable,the various hardware components and/or software components set forthherein may be separated into sub-components comprising software,hardware, or both without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. In addition, where applicable, it is contemplated thatsoftware components may be implemented as hardware components andvice-versa.

Software, in accordance with the present disclosure, such as programcode and/or data, may be stored on one or more computer readable media.It is also contemplated that software identified herein may beimplemented using one or more computers and/or computer systems,networked and/or otherwise. Where applicable, the ordering of varioussteps described herein may be changed, combined into composite steps,and/or separated into sub-steps to provide features described herein.

The foregoing disclosure is not intended to limit the present disclosureto the precise forms or particular fields of use disclosed. As such, itis contemplated that various alternate embodiments and/or modificationsto the present disclosure, whether explicitly described or impliedherein, are possible in light of the disclosure. For example, the aboveembodiments have focused on the user and user device, however, acustomer, a merchant, a service or payment provider may otherwisepresented with tailored information. Thus, “user” as used herein canalso include charities, individuals, and any other entity or personreceiving information. Having thus described embodiments of the presentdisclosure, persons of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatchanges may be made in form and detail without departing from the scopeof the present disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is limited onlyby the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: detecting, via a wirelesspersonal assistant system of a user, a voice command generated by theuser; electronically analyzing the voice command; determining, based onthe electronically analyzing, that the voice command includes a requestto perform a transaction via a user account that was previously linkedto the wireless personal assistant system; based on the determining,accessing user information of the user, the user information includinguser authentication credentials, a specified amount for the transaction,and another party involved in the transaction; authenticating the userbased on the user authentication credentials; and processing, based on asuccessful authentication of the user, the transaction with the anotherparty via the user account according to the specified amount.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein at least one of the detecting, theelectronically analyzing, the determining, the accessing, theauthenticating, or the processing is performed at least in part via anelectronic communication between the wireless personal assistant systemand a service provider, and wherein the user account comprises anaccount of the user with the service provider.
 3. The method of claim 2,further comprising: before the detecting, linking, to the wirelesspersonal assistant system, the user account and a plurality ofuser-defined voice commands.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein: theelectronically analyzing comprises searching for one or more of theuser-defined voice commands in the detected voice command; and thedetermining comprises determining that the detected voice commandmatches at least one of the one or more of the user-defined voicecommands.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the another party comprisesa merchant, wherein the transaction comprises a purchase of one or moreproducts from the merchant, and wherein the method further comprisesproviding information regarding the one or more products in real time tothe user.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the accessing the userinformation comprises accessing the user authentication credentials thatwere previously stored on a user device of the user.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the accessing the user information comprises:prompting, via the wireless personal assistant system, the user for theuser authentication credentials; and receiving, via the wirelesspersonal assistant system, the user authentication credentials.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the user information further comprises acontact list of the user imported from a user device of the user or froma social media account of the user.
 9. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: after the transaction has been processed, presenting aconfirmation message to a user device of the user, wherein theconfirmation message comprises the specified amount and descriptiveinformation of the another party.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein thetransaction comprises a transfer of funds, an inquiry of a balance ofthe user account, or a request to pay a bill.
 11. The method of claim 1,further comprising, before the detecting: presenting, via a graphicaluser interface of a mobile application executing on a user device of theuser, 1) a prompt that allows a linking of the user account with thewireless personal assistant system, and 2) a plurality of commands thatinclude the voice command; and based on user input received via thegraphical user interface, linking the user account with the wirelesspersonal assistant system, and selecting at least the voice command fromthe plurality of commands as user-customized command for conductingtransactions via the wireless personal assistant system.
 12. A system,comprising: a processor; and a non-transitory computer-readable mediumhaving stored thereon instructions that are executable by the processorto cause the system to perform operations comprising: accessing a useraccount of a first user that was previously linked with a wirelesspersonal assistant system, wherein the user account was linked based oninput received from the first user via a graphical user interface of auser device of the first user; receiving an audio message via thewireless personal assistant system, the audio message including one ormore voice commands; identifying the one or more voice commands via anelectronic analysis of the audio message; determining that the one ormore voice commands comprise a request to perform a transaction via theuser account that was linked to the wireless personal assistant system;after the determining, accessing user information of the first user, theuser information including user authentication credentials, and amerchant or a second user involved in the transaction with the firstuser; authenticating the first user based on the user authenticationcredentials; and processing, based on a successful authentication of thefirst user, the transaction with the merchant or the second user via theuser account.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the graphical userinterface is displayed as a part of a mobile application executable onthe user device, and wherein the graphical user interface comprises aprompt for linking the user account with the wireless personal assistantsystem.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the graphical user interfaceis configured to allow the first user to select the one or more voicecommands, from a plurality of voice commands, as user-specified commandsfor conducting transactions via the wireless personal assistant system.15. The system of claim 12, wherein the processing the transactioncomprises: presenting, to the first user via the wireless personalassistant system, a question pertaining to the transaction; receiving,via the wireless personal assistant system, an answer to the questionfrom the first user; and configuring an aspect of the transaction basedon the answer received.
 16. The system of claim 12, wherein thetransaction comprises a purchase of an item, a transfer of funds, aninquiry of a balance of the user account, or a request to pay a bill.17. The system of claim 12, wherein the transaction comprises a requestto provide a real time consumer metric visualization or a real timepurchase information of a product.
 18. A non-transitory machine-readablemedium having stored thereon machine-readable instructions executable tocause a machine to perform operations comprising: detecting, at least inpart via a wireless personal assistant system of a user, a first voicecommand from the user; determining that the first voice commandcomprises a request for information regarding a product or serviceoffered by a merchant; providing, at least in part via the wirelesspersonal assistant system, the information to the user; detecting, atleast in part via the wireless personal assistant system after theinformation has been provided to the user, a second voice command fromthe user; determining that the second voice command comprises a requestto conducting a transaction involving the product or the service;authenticating the user after the determining that the second voicecommand comprises the request, wherein an authentication of the usergrants an access of a user account that was previously linked with thewireless personal assistant system; and processing the transaction viathe user account.
 19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium ofclaim 18, wherein the user account was previously linked to the wirelesspersonal assistant system based on user input received via a graphicaluser interface of a mobile application executable on a user device. 20.The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein: thedetermining that the first voice command comprises the request forinformation comprises matching the first voice command with a pluralityof user-defined commands; and the determining that the second voicecommand comprises the request to conducting the transaction comprisesmatching the second voice command with the plurality of user-definedcommands.